Marvel is Hoping to Crack That Doctor Strange Movie in Time for Phase 3

Phase 1 of Marvel Studio’s master plan to rule the comic book movie universe has come and gone with great success, capping off with the bazillion dollar making “The Avengers”. The studio is now in the midst of Phase 2, which promises more outerworldly stories with the likes of “The Guardians of the Galaxy” coming into the fold and, of course, set to culminate once again with “The Avengers 2″.

So what’s in store for Phase 3? If Marvel chief Kevin Feige has his way (and why wouldn’t he?), you’ll be seeing a Doctor Strange movie around the same time the studio starts cranking on its Phase 3 series of movies (or thereabouts).

The always very shy (not really) Feige recently spilled the beans to Collider about the possibility of seeing a Doctor Strange movie sometime very soon:

Dr. Strange is something that I talk about often and it’s sort of next up for us to dig into and explore. Our executive producer of Iron Man 3, having done Captain America: The First Avenger and as that was finishing he started working on the bones that would become Iron Man 3, and now that he’s finished with Iron Man 3, he’s working on the bones that would become Doctor Strange. Now that Iron Man 3 is finished, some of our quote-unquote spare time is going to be devoted to trying to crack Strange.

I guess part of “cracking” the ol Sorcerer Supreme is figuring out how magic plays in the world that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a road that has surely been paved by the existence of one Norse God with a mighty hammer.

So when can we expect to see the good Doctor on the big screen?

As we look past 2015, past Avengers 2 and Ant-Man, I think Dr. Strange should be one of the next movies in the years following that.

I used to think that Marvel would never end up making an “Ant-Man” movie, but that was before I thought Marvel would never end up making a “Guardians of the Galaxy” movie, and they’re already full-steam ahead on that one, so I have no doubt they’ll eventually end up making “Ant-Man” and in short order, a “Doctor Strange” movie.

My pick for Doctor Strange? Since Marvel doesn’t need a young kid, I could see someone like “Justified’s” Timothy Olyphant, or even “Person of Interest’s” Jim Caviezel. Doctor Strange should NOT be a young man, and he should look world-weary. Both of those guys could pull the role off without breaking a sweat, and plus, they’re not so famous that it would cost Marvel an arm and a leg to get them (and we all know how Marvel feels about paying out the ol arm and leg for an actor).